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Georgia's jobless rate rises to 9.3 percent

ATLANTA — State labor officials say Georgia's jobless rate rose to 9.3 percent in July, which is up from 9 percent in June.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says a main reason for the increase is a large number of temporary layoffs in manufacturing. However, Butler says many of those workers who were laid off have already gone back to work.

The seasonally adjusted numbers were released early Thursday.

Labor officials say there were 56,540 first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits in July, up 15.7 percent from June, with the temporary manufacturing layoffs accounting for most of that increase.

Georgia's labor force increased by 7,731 new jobseekers to 4,765,132 in July. That's up from 4,757,401 in June. Georgia's labor force has increased 14 of the past 15 months.